In alarm systems, such as building fire alarm systems, it is desirable to have audio capabilities. Audio capabilities enable audible annunciation emergency messages to be passed between fire control panels and/or audio panels in a fire alarm system and also to be played when mass notification is required. As audio capabilities in the form of mass notification systems have been integrated with traditional building fire alarm systems, a need has arisen for making it easier to select multiple fire alarm messages, operator-initiated messages, and mass notification messages and apply these messages to the appropriate users and sites.
During the operation of a traditional emergency voice/fire alarm system, an emergency operator (such as a firefighter or building security officer) is often required to apply an emergency or convenience message to, or to request a page on, one or more speaker zones throughout a site. The choice of output zones to which a message or page is desired is often made dynamically in the selection of output zones and the desired message or page.
In many cases, an emergency situation requires that multiple operations be performed on more than one speaker group. Various customer, regulatory, and/or local jurisdictions may have requirements with specific action sequences. Such operations sequences currently require multiple operations and steps via multiple button presses of individual speaker zones to apply the requested operations. The multiple button presses can result in errors in an emergency situation. An example situation is when there is a need to evacuate a portion of a site or building. To evacuate one section of a building while alerting the remaining sections of a building, multiple actions are required. An “All Alert” would have to be activated, “Selective Evacuation” activated, and one or more “Speaker Zones” applied to the “Selective Evacuation.”
What is needed in the art is an approach for grouping multiple button presses and steps into a reduced number of button presses that reduces mars and increases the speed that emergency information is disseminated at a site while complying with all applicable regulatory, Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) (as defined by the National Fire Protection Association or as extended by local fire authorities), and customer/building codes, standards, and rules and regulations.